Sadia Hassanen’s contributions to the volume are based on qualitative ethnographic studies of Eritrean forced migrants in several countries. The situation surrounding forced migration from Eritrea is the volume’s principal empirical focus, although it is supplemented by related experiences of forced migrants from Uganda, Chile and Iraq.
One chapter describes how refugees from Eritrea manage to a make a life for themselves in Eastern Sudan, many of whom depend on remittances from relatives who are better off in Arab countries, Europe or Australia.
Focus is also on the situation in Sweden which has a long history of receiving forced migrants from many parts of the world. Charles Westin’s empirical chapter relates the story of the Ugandan Asians who were accepted by Sweden in 1972, and the establishment of their diasporic community.
Professor Erik Olsson (Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University), who participates with two chapters, has studied the Chilean transnational community in Chile and Sweden since the early 1990s: “Sedentary Decisions: The Representation of Migration in Swedish Repatriation Practice” and “Living Next to an Airport: Diaspora Narratives on the Return to Chile”.
About the editors
Charles Westin is Emeritus Professor of International Migration and Ethnic Relation at Stockholm University where he served as Director of CEIFO (the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations) from 1994 to 2008. His research interests include migration theory and interethnic relations. At present he is involved in studies of the indigenous Saami and Roma minorities of Sweden. He edited Identity Processes and Dynamics in Multi-Ethnic Europe (2010) with José Bastos, Janine Dahinden and Pedro Góis. Currently Westin is chairperson of the Expo Foundation, a privately-owned research foundation started 1995 in Sweden by the author Stieg Larsson with the aim of studying and mapping anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and racist tendencies in society
Sadia Hassanen, PhD in Human Geography, is affiliated as researcher at the Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University. She conducted research among Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan about the effect of migration on repatriation, integration or further migration on the community of Eritrean diaspora published in her book Repatriation, Integration or Resettlement (2007). Alongside her research Hassanen has taught at Stockholm University in BA and master level courses about refugee livelihood and the role of networking among urban and camp based refugees. Currently she is studying the role of Eritrean diaspora for conflict resolution and democratisation of the country of origin.
Find out more about on-going research in the Migration cluster at the Department of Social Anthropology.